The best flights from San Diego to London

These overnight flights will be easier to sleep through. Your body clock will still be on your San Diego timezone, so getting to sleep will be easier for flights after 7pm. By the time dinner is cleared away, it will be about 9pm and you'll feel naturally tired.

The second big benefit is that the flights will land nearer a time you would typically wake up in San Diego. Your body will have had more chance to rest and recharge without interruption at a somewhat normal time. Earlier flights will leave you sleep deprived. Remember, you'll typically be offered breakfast 1-2 hours before landing too. That will feel easier nearer 6-7am on your body clock than 1-2 am.

If you do have to take an earlier flight, see if you can get the earliest possible flight then get home or to a hotel for a "proper" sleep until lunchtime in London the day you land (your body will want to this anyway). If you can land around dawn, get out the airport quickly, and beat the morning rush hour traffic home, this also works. Your flight then isn't so critical for sleep.

You might be too awake to go to bed in the new local time. Even if you haven't slept well inflight, your body clock will be on morning time in your San Diego timezone. It's easier if you have more hours in London to adjust and tire out again before bed. If not, you may struggle to get to sleep again on the first night that you land, so your day 2 jetlag will become much worse.

If you do have to take these later flights, try not to sleep all the way through. Instead, try waking up about halfway through the flight and "starting your day" on London time. It won't feel easy, but you'll be more ready to click into the new timezone on arrival.

The longest US flights get a second hot meal service, but you'll have 7-8 hours between service where you can go hungry. There are snacks onboard, but they tend to be carb-heavy that can spike your blood sugar and not really fill you up. Other airlines pace their meal service better for long dayflights that might leave you wanting more.

Avoid grazing through the flight, and consider high-protein snacks. These do a better job making you feel full and trigger hormones that make you feel more alert. Carb-heavy snacks will send you on a blood sugar rollercoaster that might make you feel less with it when you land.